Most service companies start the same way: a great practitioner opens shop and sells their own time—hairdressers, trainers, dentists, therapists, lawyers. That works… until it doesn’t. Quality depends on the founder; hiring “clones” leads to uneven results and micromanagement; SOPs multiply; and the business becomes a mini-bureaucracy. In this episode, I explain why the “be the best and do it all yourself” approach traps you—and how to scale without wrecking your brand.

We walk through the five most common growth models (rent-a-chair, senior-junior-novice ladders, HQ services platform, affiliate/license, and “big fish + aux team”)—what they do well and where they stall. Then I lay out a practical move from practice to platform: productize outcomes (not just services), define roles and tiers, keep marketing/sales centralized, and build continuity revenue (memberships, cohorts, retail) while letting intrapreneurs grow under your brand. Finally, we add leverage backstage with AI—intake, plan drafting, comms, QA—so your team spends more time on human moments and outcomes.

If you’re stuck between being the best in town and working 70-hour weeks, this is your path out: a platform where good people can do great work—and your brand gets stronger every time they do.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/